Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018): The drug war on the U.S.-Mexico border has escalated as the cartels have begun trafficking terrorists across the US border. To fight the war, federal agent Matt Graver re-teams with the mercurial Alejandro.

I don't think I have ever seen a film come out at a more inappropriate time given its subject matter. In the height of Trump's America, on the heels of the current administration separating families at our southern border for merely trying to find a better life, Lionsgate, director Stefano Sollima, and writer Taylor Sheridan (OSCAR! Is this the same Taylor Sheridan that blew us away in Wind River? SERIOUSLY? Well, safe to say he's 3 for 4 now) have the sheer gall to release a MAGA's wet dream of what the border looks like on film. Right from the opening scene the vile and racist tone was set, as we witnessed an immigrant crossing the border into America then, when caught by ICE, says "Allāhu akbar," and proceeds to blow themselves up, killing several ICE agents in the process. In the next scene, we are greeted to a suicide bombing in Kansas City supposedly conducted by immigrants from the border, complete with a white mom and her daughter pleading with the last of the bombers not to blow himself up before the inevitable explosion. It was tough for me to have any sympathy for this movie and anyone involved at this point, and that was literally at the 5 minute mark. But, if you think things got any better after that, REST ASSURED, MY FRIENDS..... they did not. Literally EVERY Latino outside of Alejandro (played by Benicio Del Toro, who's.....fine, but seems to be in it for the paycheck) and Isabel Reyes (played by the wonderful Isabela Moner, who is given very little to do) is either a member of a cartel, bought and paid for by a cartel, or trying to join a cartel, save EXACTLY ONE. At one point there is deaf Latino man that helps Alejandro and Isabel out by giving them some food. That's it. I just listed every Latino that's an extra in this movie that isn't affiliated with a cartel. I wish I was making a very bad joke there, but I'm not. This film is dangerously hateful and reckless. I haven't been as upset about something since last year's heinous I Love You, Daddy, and at least with that film The Orchard realized that the #MeToo movement was important and put it on the shelf indefinitely. Here, Lionsgate looked at the thousands of children STILL separated by our current administration at the border and said "Ya. Let's go ahead and release this. Nothing to see here." There isn't much to redeem this film outside of its tone-deaf handling of Latinos, either. Without Kate Macer, (Emily Blunt's character) the film has no moral compass, no one to ground it in reality, no one to be the audience's eyes, so it devolves into nothing more than explosions and gratuitous violence while thinking it's WAY MORE than that. And, without Roger Deakins to man the camera, there's not a whole lot to marvel at visually, either. The film tries to be like Roger Deakins, but we all know there's only one Roger Deakins. Ultimately, the lack of a guiding hand like Denis Villeneuve (who directed the original ​Sicario) leads Sicario: Day of the Solado down the dark path of ignorance and racism, and in the process becomes a film that will certainly appeal to the viewers of Fox News, but anyone with half a brain will see the disgusting agenda here for what it is. Stay VERY far away, as this will be a top candidate for me for worst film of 2018. Were it not for the fact that I saw it with some friends I would've walked out halfway through.

My Number: 1/10

The First Purge

The First Purge (2018): After the rise of a third political party, the New Founding Fathers of America, an experiment is conducted, no laws for 12 hours on Staten Island. No one must stay during the experiment yet there is $5,000 for anyone who does.

Ugh. Wow IMDB description is.....not great. Scripts have never been a strong point for The Purge franchise. The previous installment, The Purge: Election Year, captured lightning in a bottle and delivered a topical slasher flick that was lighthearted and fun despite a weak and shallow script. It's no surprise that the fourth installment has a mediocre script as well, but this time the topical aspect of it was overwhelming for me. It made the film feel like it was taking itself entirely too seriously, whereas previously the lack thereof was one of the franchise's strongest assets. And when the franchise shies away from the slasher genre in favor of a more traditional action movie, combined with this overly serious tone? You have the makings of a disaster on your hands. The First Purge isn't quite a disaster as its action sequences are still pretty fun and its themes do tie-in exceptionally well with modern-day America, (the later is probably the strongest aspect of this film, even if it is overwhelming) I can't help but feel letdown here with the latest installment. There's just not a whole lot else to get excited about here. The performances are pretty forgettable, with the "big names" of this installment (Patch Darragh and and Marisa Tomei) being inexplicably delegated to "talking at a computer screen" roles, a far cry from Elizabeth Mitchell's "down and dirty" role or freaking Betty Gabriel's boss of a performance/character in the prior film. I want to know why the heck Laney Rucker, (Gabriel) who was described as a one-time badass in The Purge: Election Year, wasn't given a cameo to do something awesome here. Why not lean into the lore you've created, guys? No, instead we get this ridiculous origin story for The Purge that has a lot of stupid things happen along the way that we're supposed to just accept. There were some very enjoyable action sequences here, but entirely too much time is spent on the silly origin story for the franchise. Honestly? Just go and watch The Purge: Anarchy or The Purge: Election Year again. So much better than this, and that is a damn shame.

My Number: 4/10

Skyscraper

Skyscraper (2018): ​A father goes to great lengths to save his family from a burning skyscraper.

Skyscraper is basically what you're expecting it to be. It's a movie primarily made for the foreign crowd, (particularly China given its setting and some of its supporting stars) and it'll make its distributor, Universal, some money in this regard while it tanks stateside. (Plus, The Rock has become one of the few major "new" stars with the name-power to draw crowds internationally) But.....stateside we're left to ask.....why? Why waste any of your marketing budget here when you know you're doomed to fail? There's not much to draw people in here in America, as the film is hilariously predictable, visually unimpressive, and just overall soulless and boring. The corporate-mandated filmmaking can be smelled from a mile away. Even the acting is pretty meh, as The Rock doesn't do anything unique short of "he's a paraplegic capable of scaling an actual 100+ story crane in about 15 minutes," (which he did, by the way. Call it nitpicking but I was a little frustrated when no one acknowledged this) and even Neve Campbell doesn't do much out of the ordinary, despite receiving a good amount of screen time throughout the brisk (but still overlong) 100 minute runtime. The most interesting person in this film is Hannah Quinlivan, who portrays Xia, one of the henchmen who is far more interesting than the film's lead henchman, Kores Botha. (played by Roland Møller) But because she's delegated to the "head supporting henchman" she has basically nothing to do. Oh, and OF COURSE, the film takes place in a single night so we can't truly appreciate the visual spectacle of it all. A lot of corners were cut in the setpieces, and it's painstakingly obvious at many points. Not even the biggest setpieces (the ones from all the marketing campaigns) look decent, which means there's really no reason to see this film. Not even internationally, since all the Asian actors are delegated to minor supporting roles. (Seriously, why isn't Hannah Quinlivan the lead henchman here???) It's a "no" from me. Stay away.

My Number: 2.5/10

Sorry to Bother You

Sorry to Bother You (2018): In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a macabre universe.

Wow. What a film. I went into this completely blind (a rare thing for me nowadays) and was refreshingly greeted to one of the most ambitious and creative films to hit the silver screen this year. Director/writer Boots Riley brings his social critique to the big screen flawlessly, as there are several meaningful statements on everything from racial advantages, class inequality and hierarchy, to even the benefits of labor unions. All of this surrounds a plot that is pretty absurd. Riley swings for the fences here in a style the reminded me of the Wachowski's Cloud Atlas. (Which is honestly high praise as Cloud Atlas is still one of the most ambitious films I have ever seen.) While Sorry to Bother You does get a little too out there for me personally at points, this film has cult classic future written all over it. Some of the effects aren't great, and the over-ambitious script does expose itself to some faults, but most scripts do. It's not easy wrapping a social critique into a batshit premise that sprinkles some sharp jokes throughout, but that's exactly what Bootsy Riley does. He's also helped by a stellar cast. Lakeith Stanfield puts in a career-defining performance as Cassius Green, and his girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson) is a strong female character in her own right. Another point where this film excels is in the production design. As the IMDB description noted, this is an "alternate" version of Oakland, and the costume department / set design is where this alternate reality really comes out. Detroit's outfits are a great example of this. Her earrings did a great job to convey the feeling of a scene while also looking jarring and out-of-this-world. The film also features some great voiceovers to convey whiteness, as Patton Oswalt, David Cross, and Lilly James all lend their voices and are basically unrecognizable thanks to some great sound design. All in all, this is a great film, and destined for a great shelf life as a cult hit. It loses some steam in the third act as it becomes ambitious to a fault, but I'll take an overly ambitious film over something that plays it safe any day. It's a sharp satire of our current society, and certainly better than most of the movies in the theater right now. It is more than worthy of your time.

My Number: 8/10

The Equalizer 2

The Equalizer 2 (2018): Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?

Wow, that is a TERRIBLE IMDB description. I thought the one for The First Purge was bad....anyway, we need to talk about how disappointing a sequel this is. It's predecessor, 2014's The Equalizer, took its place in a great year for the crime thriller genre that included films like A Walk Among the Tombstones, A Most Wanted Man, and, for better or for worse, John Wick. Now, thanks in part to the massive success of the last film I mentioned in that list, we've seen this little genre lose some of its muster in the past few years, and The Equalizer 2 is the perfect embodiment of that. It basically does the exact same thing The Equalizer did again, but now that no longer has the same breath of fresh air that came with its predecessor. This film plays things very safe and sound and is predictable at every turn, and lacks the visual style of something like the aforementioned John Wick to keep things interesting when it simply rehashes its previous formula. About the only two characters that were interesting here were Miles (played by Ashton Sanders, formerly of Moonlight acclaim) and Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo) but neither one of them are given the amount of screen time they deserve as we have to follow the totally uninteresting friendship of McCall (Washington) and Dave York. (Pedro Pascal, who continues to struggle at finding his niche in film following his breakout success in Game of Thrones) And Bill Pullman is in this? For some reason? I'm sure he got a nice paycheck but his character was completely unnecessary. Otherwise....there's really not much to say here. It's a sequel that doesn't exist for any other reason than to cash in on an IP that finds itself in a popular genre of late, and is lifeless in virtually every sense of the word. If you really liked the original you may find something to like here, otherwise there are definitely better flicks to see in the cinema right now. (And hopefully upcoming as well. Looking at you, Mission: Impossible.)

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